Although some claim the earliest use of merchant trade tokens was in
Roman times, the earliest use of trade tokens in Texas was probably by merchants in the
1870s. I have seen no evidence of trade token use in Texas prior to 1870. Beer and
liquor saloons were some of the first establishments in Texas to make use of tokens. The
"two for a quarter" deal was very popular for liquor in most saloons. A single
drink of whiskey cost 15¢, but if the customer was willing to accept a token in his
change he was given a chip "Good for 12 ½¢ in Trade", or "Good for One
Drink." This assured the saloon owner that the customer would return to his saloon
for the next drink. The 2 ½¢ token was also used with a silver dime, in a similar
manner.

Saloon beer tokens had different denominations, when keg beer sold
for two glasses of beer for 15¢, required a 7 ½¢ token for change. The "four for a
quarter" beer deal required a 6 ¼¢ token. So many different denomination tokens
were required just in the saloon business.

The daily monetary usage in Texas included the Mexican 8 reales
piece, and the Spanish milled dollar well into the 1870s. As is generally known,
these coins were often cut into halves, quarters, and eighths, thus giving rise to the
phrase "two bits" and "four bits." Some tokens are seen that borrow
that usage for the 12 ½¢ denomination, substituting the phrase "one bit", or
picturing a horse bit. These pictorial tokens are highly sought after.

SHEEP
SHEARING TOKENS

The Edwards Plateau area of southwest Texas, in the general area of
Sanderson, Del Rio, Langtry, and Uvalde, is sheep country. This high and dry area is well
suited to sheep ranching, and much Mexican influence is seen in both the culture of sheep
shearing and the tokens. The heads of the shearing crews are called "Capitans",
and the operations are called "trasquilas." As is the practice in other parts of
the world (including New Mexico and Uruguay) tokens were used to track the number of sheep
shorn by shearers (or tacinques), one token for each sheep shorn. As work progressed, the
tacinque traded in his 25 single tokens for one that read "good for 25 sheep",
or his 50 tokens for a "good for 50 sheep" token. There were even special tokens
for bucks, because they were harder to handle, and the shearer was paid more for them.
Many Mexican-American names are seen on these tokens, including Marquez, Rubio, Perez,
Castro, and Reyes.

LUMBER
TOKENS

Lumber tokens were used extensively in the eastern portion of Texas,
throughout the piney woods north of Houston, up through Marshall, and north and west of
Beaumont. Company tokens were generally used as a means of pay for employees, and were
accepted as cash at the local company store. Often these tokens were issued in advance of
pay, a form of credit, and deducted from the employees pay each month. The tokens
also aided in bookkeeping, and were of vast benefit to the lumber company, rather than the
employee. Texas lumber companies that issued tokens include the Thompson Tucker Lumber
Company, the Texas Long Leaf Lumber Company, C. Bender and Sons, Boettcher Lumber Company,
and Dacus Lumber Company, among many others.

COAL TOKENS

The usage of coal as fuel in 19th century America, as fuel
for railroads, and in home and industry, created a need for coal tokens. Some of the towns
in Texas that coal tokens are known, include Bridgeport, Strawn, Thurber, and Eagle Pass.
Most coal company tokens come from the states of West Virginia, and Kentucky, although
most states are known to have some. Edkins first edition (1977) Catalogue of United States
Coal Company Scrip, lists more than 10,000 different coal tokens. Coal scrip token
collectors are just one branch of the merchant token collecting family, and they are a
highly dedicated group, and have given much back to the hobby.

GENERAL STORE
TOKENS

The most often encountered trade token is the general store, or
general merchant token. Most small towns in America, from Oklahoma to South Dakota, had a
general store in the 1880s and 1890s. The pioneer merchants included bakers,
dry goods merchants, grocers, and general stores. These were a thrifty people, and they
discovered that the use of "trade tokens" gave them a slight advantage over a
competitor who did not use the chips. Various methods were used to entice business. One
was to hand out small denomination tokens to the children, who would undoubtedly bring
their parents to the store when the child wanted to purchase a pennys worth of
candy. Another very common practice was for the merchant to buy eggs, poultry, garden and
farm produce from the local inhabitants, and pay 10 percent more in tokens, than he would
in cash. This ensured that the seller would return to his store to buy needed items, and
conserved the merchants cash. Other merchants used the tokens as a bookkeeping
device, advancing the customer a fixed sum in tokens, to be repaid when the customer sold
his cotton, or cattle. General store merchant trade tokens are often found in
denominations of 1¢, 5¢, 10¢, 25¢, 50¢, and $1.00. Rarely are they found with higher
denominations.

MILITARY
TOKENS

Another popular trade token collection is the specialty of military
tokens. These can include tokens from the 1870s up to ones in current use at
military installations. One of the most often seen military tokens is the NCO token, which
is the non-commissioned officers club token. Military tokens are also collected from
overseas bases, including Viet Nam tokens. Paul Cunningham published a book "Military
Tokens op the United States, volume 1, Domestic Issues" in 1995, which continued the
work of James J. Curto (1903-1993), who was a pioneer in the study of military tokens.
Military tokens are often easy to find (comparatively) and many are inexpensive. Some
military token collectors enhance their collections by adding picture postcards of
military bases that issued their tokens, or military patches.

ETHNIC GROUP
TOKENS OF TEXAS

In the late 1800s, many merchants were first or second
generation Americans and their ties to their original homelands was strong, as shown by
the names of the towns they settled. In Texas we have New Baden, Manheim, Schulenburg,
Walburg, Weimer, New Braunfels, and Nordheim. Many times, the merchant name on a token
also speaks of his/her homeland. Some of the merchant names seen on Texas tokens include
Hruska, Oltjen, Schmidt, Vogel, Hempel, Boettcher, Drodz, Umland, and Escajeda.

HOW TRADE TOKENS
WERE MADE

The production of tokens is a complicated affair, and in this
description I will try to be succinct. Engravers and diesinkers make tokens. First
planchets, or blanks are cut into the approximate size and shape of the token, from strips
of metal about a foot long. The planchets are cut using a "cutting machine", as
the strips are handfed into the machine. The planchets are then struck by dies, in a
"coining press." The manufacture of the dies, is the heart of the token
manufacturing process. Two methods of making the dies were often used. The first was
direct engraving of the die. This method involved softening a tool steel cylinder by
annealing, then engraving (in reverse and incuse) into the metal. Then the metal was
hardened and used as a die to stamp the softer brass or aluminum planchets. The second
method, called "hubbing", involved carving into a softened tool steel cylinder
in relief, the design, and then hardening the cylinder and using it as a
"master" die, to make incuse dies, which were used to stamp the brass or
aluminum planchets. In recent years, a third process was added, involving a
"transfer-reducing" machine, in which a large model of the face was made, and
the machine reduced the model to the final die size. This method is most often used for
medals, and coins however, not for tokens. The coining press varied, over the years and
from one manufacturer to the next.

DIESINKERS
AND MANUFACTURERS

It would be impractical for me to try to list every token
manufacturer in the United States from 1870 through 1950. For that reason, I will list
some of the token manufacturers, but include the caveat that this list is by no means
inclusive.